


Vanilla is the New Snickerdoodle

by Le_kunokimchi



Series: Reflected in the Mirror, I’m a Maze [1]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alpha Bang Chan, Alpha Lee Minho | Lee Know, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Idols, Alternate Universe - Stray Kids A/B/O, Bang Chan is Whipped, Bang Chan is a Good Hyung, Beta Han Jisung | Han, Beta Hwang Hyunjin, Beta Kim Seungmin, Beta Seo Changbin, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Insecure Lee Felix (Stray Kids), Lee Felix is a Good Friend, Lee Felix-centric (Stray Kids), M/M, Minor body dysphoria, Omega Lee Felix (Stray Kids), Pack Dynamics, Scenting, Soft Lee Felix (Stray Kids), Unpresented A/B/O Dynamic Yang Jeongin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:54:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29193390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Le_kunokimchi/pseuds/Le_kunokimchi
Summary: Stage-Felix is an alpha. He’s strong and empowering. He could motivate an army and lead a rebellion. He could inspire a movement and take the media by storm; he has the potential to revolutionize the idol world.Off stage, he's a beta: he’s a perfect mix of caring and protective, seeking and waiting, motivating and sensitive.The real Felix was just too… soft and emotional to be an alpha. His Kpop profile online says he’s a beta. His medical records given to his manager when he first signed with the company says he’s a beta. His father, mother, sisters, friends, and groupmates say he’s a beta. He had no reason to believe otherwise.Real-Felix and Stage-Felix weren’t supposed to be an omega.
Relationships: Bang Chan/Lee Felix, Han Jisung | Han & Lee Felix, Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Hwang Hyunjin & Lee Felix, Kim Seungmin & Lee Felix, Lee Felix & Lee Minho | Lee Know, Lee Felix & Seo Changbin, Lee Felix & Yang Jeongin | I.N, Lee Felix (Stray Kids) & Everyone, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: Reflected in the Mirror, I’m a Maze [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2143335
Comments: 18
Kudos: 244





	Vanilla is the New Snickerdoodle

**Author's Note:**

> Hello hello~ This is my first time writing something in the A/B/O universe so I was kind of just going off of what I've gathered from reading other fics. The title will definitely make more sense in the end  
> This can kinda be read as platonic if you ignore a comment about Felix having a crush on Chan but the plan was to have them get together in the next part of the series; this was just setting the scene for everything so I hope you enjoy and come back for part two! :)

It had started out as any normal segment. 

Dumb but wildly competitive games, challenges intended to bring out their darker and sneakier sides in an effort to win, overly personal questions to answer because reporters are nosy and naïve to think that zealous fans won’t rip them apart if they were to say something _not coached and perfect-idol-like_.

Living in the eye of the public is probably the most difficult thing for any single person to handle: you can’t hide anything. You can lie, disguise, deny, deceive, and even _disappear_ from the media for a while but they are always only momentary victories. You can’t have secrets as an idol. Your life is laid out on a contract; your state of mind is shared between your fans and groupmates like there is a bridge connecting all of your brains; your private affairs become common knowledge for anyone and everyone to read by a simple search of your name; facts _you_ may not even know about yourself can be found upon two places: your medical records and your Kpop profile. The concept of even _trying_ to hide something, whether it be your true nature or biggest insecurity, is just a lost cause. People always find out. People always _know:_ your bandmates because they are with you nearly every second of your life by choice or not, fans because they either _love_ you or they _hate_ you and either want to know your entire life story because they hope to marry you one day or because their will to live revolves around watching you fall and destroying your entire career with a simple scandal, a simple slip of a _secret_. 

Celebrities, idols, whatever you want to call it… they know that this is just how dwelling in the spotlight _is_ . They learn quickly how to cope, how to coast past paparazzi and talk circles around interviewers that are trying to pry for information they are not ready to give. Many idols, _the_ Lee Yongbok included, develop personas as a mechanism to keep the showbiz life as separate from their personal life as possible. The higher-ups see the persona, his family sees the truth, and his fans and bandmates see both. It’s just how things are: there is no changing it.

On stage, he’s _Lee Felix of Stray Kids_ : the man of many talents. He can dance every night and every day without ever getting a move wrong or executing a sloppy transition; he can rap in English or Korean no problem, even utter the occasional phrase in French or Japanese if he’s feeling daring; he can perform all sorts of tricks, whether they be from his years of training in martial arts or a basic demonstration of his immense coordination and flexibility; he can sing with a voice deeper than the base of any song and beatbox like he has been doing it his entire life; he can get a stare, a glare, a gaze on his face that's intensity is unrivaled and never fails to make the audience squirm, squeal, gasp, and shiver. He’s an alpha on stage: he _dominates_ the stage. He’s strong and empowering: he could motivate an army and lead a rebellion. He could inspire a movement and take the media by storm; he has the potential to revolutionize the idol world.

Off stage, he’s _Yongbokkie, Lixie, Lix, Little One, Koala, Brownie Boy_ : the man with a heart of gold and presence that rivals that of a literal ray of sunshine. He hugs, cuddles, squeezes, and massages no matter the time of day or how he is feeling: if somebody needs _him_ , he’s there to comfort and support them. He showers fans, staff, and members with constant attention and affection: if somebody forgets that they are important and special and loved and _enough,_ he’s there to remind them with gifts whether they are verbal or physical, homemade or bought, common or rare, expensive or _priceless_ . He bakes and cooks and feeds and provides even if he’s barely able to stand on his own two feet because of exhaustion or is feeling too sickly to consume any goodies himself: if somebody is hungry or homesick or feeling _nostalgic_ , he will whip up a delicious plate of pure adoration and happiness on a moment’s notice. He teaches, guides, advises, and listens: if somebody needs someone to talk to or just a hand in learning how to do something, he will drop everything to be an eager ear or a nurturing voice, no questions asked. He’s a beta off stage: he’s a perfect mix of caring and protective, seeking and waiting, motivating and sensitive. 

And he was completely fine with being a beta, never thought he would be otherwise. He has accepted that he would be one; he let fans speculate if he was really an alpha in disguise. There was nothing wrong with being an alpha either but Stage-Felix was nothing more than an act in his personal opinion: he couldn’t be a wise, patient, and mighty leader like Bang Chan is 24/7 or a firm, motherly, and natural-born teacher like Lee Know is at every given moment of the day. 

He had duality: he should be a beta just like the rest of the members in the group (with exception of Jeongin who hasn’t presented yet but shows promising traits of an alpha). 

Real-Felix was a late bloomer, having yet to present even at twenty years of age but everybody already assumed that when he does, he’d be a beta. It is some unspoken agreement. He was just too… soft and emotional to be an alpha. His Kpop profile online says he’s a beta. His medical records given to his manager when he first signed with the company says he’s a beta. His father, mother, sisters, friends, and groupmates say he’s a beta. He had _no reason to believe otherwise._

So when they are all sitting on a brown leather couch together, nearing the end of the filming segment for another one of their short series, he had _never_ expected to be suddenly smacked across the face with an overwhelming smell of _sweet and sugary vanilla:_ not the mix of spices like cinnamon and clove associated with an alpha and _definitely_ not a mix of both sugar _and_ spice like a _beta._ He had presented: right then, right there, in front of all his group mates, in front of his manager and the cameraman, in front of everybody tuning into the Vlive… that he was far from the _accepted class_ . Stray Kids weren’t supposed to be in possession of an omega. Real-Felix and Stage-Felix weren’t supposed to be an omega. _A boy is not supposed to be an omega._

He freezes on the spot, time goes into an immediate stand-still. His brown orbs are wide with shock and fear as he stares right into the camera like he’s a deer in headlights. Jisung had halted mid-word. Manager-nim is giving him a stern look that he can’t quite meet the eyes of. _Don’t cry, you’re still live, don’t you dare cry,_ he can practically hear the man shouting through his gaze, the command reverberating through his skull and making his heart pound even more with anxiety. He’s not breathing: he only knows because he’s not smelling the cloyingly distinct scent of _himself_ . But he can hear the bated breath of Minho as his irises give a brief glimpse of crimson and tentative inhales of each and every one of the others around him and then there’s _Chan,_ kind and considerate _Chan_ , who’s sitting right next to him, so close that their thighs are touching, who’s nostrils expand widely with how deep of a breath he is taking without hesitation.

 _No, stop, don’t- Please stop._ He could possibly handle the others’ disappointment and disgust and confusion; he could handle his manager telling him to get the fuck out of the company for becoming such a freak case. But he would _die_ if he received any of that from Chan; he’s scared to look at his best friend, at his crush, at his strong _alpha_ pack leader. 

_Boys aren’t supposed to be omegas. Why couldn’t you have been normal? Why couldn’t you have been a beta like you were supposed to be? Why did you have to mess everything up?_

He’s going to cry. He’s going to _fucking_ cry. He wants to run away. He wants to scream. He can feel his spot in the middle of the couch sink around him, like the cushion was beginning to swallow his body whole just to keep him planted in the seat without escape. Everybody in the room is beginning to lean towards him, closing in; the tight fit on the sofa becomes even tighter as the intoxicating scent of an omega, a _distressed and newly presented omega without any suppressants and scent blockers nonetheless,_ completely invades their systems and consumes their senses. They are going to frickin' _eat_ him (it’s ridiculous, he knows, but he can feel the hunger radiating from their gazes at the back of his head. He has a sixth sense for these kinds of things; he used to blame it on just being very attuned to his pack’s dynamic but he knows now that it’s _in his instincts to feel the dominating energy and the urge to submit_ ). 

_It wasn’t supposed to be like this. What did you do to deserve this? Why you? Why now?_

He’s going to faint: air has yet to enter his lungs. He doesn’t want to breathe this disgusting scent. He doesn’t want to smell the hatred and disgust and impulsive arousal from his bandmates. He wants to disappear. Maybe he will let the couch swallow him. Maybe this stupid Vlive will be over and they’ll announce him as dead from suffocation and nobody else would have to know of his major _flaw_ , of his _secret_ , of his _lie._ Maybe he’ll wake up and realize this was all a bad dream. Maybe he’ll open his eyes and shuffle in bed and feel the warm, comforting presence of Chan next to him on the top bunk and everything will be okay and they could cuddle and he could back to sleep and remember that he’s loved and that he’s just another _beta in the group_ -

A hand touches his side and he flinches so hard that Manager-nim jumps, snapping out of his _oh my God this is so bad how am I going to cover this up_ haze. The man nudged the cameraman (whose jaw had fallen slack at some point and had unintentionally zoomed out from Jisung to include everyone in the frame) before snapping his fingers at Han in a signal to continue what he was saying. But the boy just blinks at him a few times blankly, glancing at Felix once more before turning his attention back to the camera. Minho pinches him in the thigh, brows raised in a _make it work, improvise, do_ **_something_ ** _,_ glare. Han gives a small yelp and immediately starts rambling about how much fun he had today but his gaze is still wandering over to his distraught birthday twin with uncertainty every couple of words.

But Jisung is the most submissive of the betas and is following the direct influence of Minho; the others are still staring, still giving inaudible growls because he must smell _that good_ if he attracted all of their attention (Innie obviously struggling the most because he has yet to take _any_ form of alpha suppressant but can still feel the instinctual urge to lunge at Felix while he’s vulnerable and scared and _surrounded by people who can’t have him_ ). 

_You are hurting them; you are going to make them do something they will all regret. This wasn’t supposed to happen! You fucked everything up! MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP!_

The scent grows more pungent because he had inhaled with his flinch and as he was reminded of how they _all know he’s not a beta, he’s not normal, he’s a freak a freak a freak_ , his initial shock completely faded into dust to be replaced by complete and utter horror.

Jisung isn’t talking anymore; he’s holding the wrists of Hyunjin and Changbin (whom looked seconds away from pouncing on the omega) while Seungmin seems to have began panicking as well and latched onto the shoulder of Jeongin whose teeth began to bare at the swarm of threatened tendrils escaping scent glands and wrapping around all of their noses. 

Felix shakes himself out of the spell enough to see the arm wrapping around his waist, eyes darting up to the owner so quick in terror that he felt like he gave his eyeballs whiplash. 

“You’re okay,” a whisper, soft and distant sounding, but grounding. “We’re okay.”

His lip is tucked between clenched teeth, tears welling up as he meets the gentle gaze of Chan. 

“Breathe; you’re okay,” the alpha repeats, leaning against Felix’s form to press his ear to the boy’s chest. His other arm snakes up Felix’s side, wrapping around his shoulders with a bicep pressed to one side of his neck and a wrist pressed to the other. The scent of spices fills the air as it radiates from Chan, him now having the opportunity to calm everyone as the arm around Felix’s shoulders is effectively smothering the boy’s scent glands. 

From a viewer's perspective, it looks like the alpha was just feeling extra clingy (which wasn’t an unusual sight between the Aussies; they were always hanging on one another at least once in every video together) and he smiles warmly at the camera in a distraction from Felix’s wide eyes. _Don’t cry out of relief either; you’re still on Vlive, dumbass._

The tension in the room seems to fade as Seungmin picks up where Han left off and begins telling about his favorite activity from the day, skipping over Felix’s turn to share so the boy could focus more on composing himself rather than trying to form coherent sentences. 

“ _See? You’re okay_ ,” Chan whispers this time in English despite knowing that the camera and others in the room couldn’t hear him; only Felix, it’s only _ever_ Felix, “ _Just breathe with me._ ”

He reluctantly relaxes into Chan’s embrace, small hands wrapping around the man’s back with a subtle squeeze in appreciation. “ _I got you. We’ll figure it out. Everything will be okay_.”

The hint of vanilla in the air dies down to being barely detectable now as Felix succumbs to his leader’s resolve; yeah, it’ll be alright; if his leader says that everything will be okay, then everything will be _okay._ He trusts his alpha, he trusts his Hyung. Chan could never _hate_ him, maybe he’s just… disappointed but that doesn’t mean that Chan doesn’t care for him; they all care, right? Or is he just doing this to keep the other members from becoming animals live on the media for anyone to see, to protect his pack from destroying their hard work and delicate reputation? He’s doing it for the good of the group; just like when he tells Felix later that he can’t have an omega in the ranks of Stray Kids, it will be _for the good of the group._ It is in Chan’s best interest to comfort Felix so the others won’t go feral from all the omega hormones that were circulating around; that’s all this is, he tells himself, but he’s willing to give in to the illusion that this is some display of acceptance because if it’s _for the good of the group,_ then the pain of forlornness is worth it. 

Innie finished talking, Felix realizes, as gazes turn to him for the closing statement. He can see the cue card, can see Manager-nim pointing at it with an unreadable expression (he’s probably not happy with the amount of skinship at the moment; the man had always thought that the Aussies appeared a little too intimate with each other despite Chan’s constant assurance that Felix was like his _little brother_ and _best friend_ and that _you can love a person without it being in a romantic way, I love all of the members_ … Despite Felix’s displeasure at the explicit bro-zone. Sometimes, though, Felix can see what their manager means: Chan has always hugged him a little different, has always gazed at and spoken to him a little different than the alpha does with all of the other members. But maybe that’s just wishful thinking…).

Minho is looking at him encouragingly with a small smile, both Hyunjin and Jisung displaying a mix of pity and sympathy; Jeongin is twiddling his fingers in his lap with an ashamed slump to his shoulders; Seungmin appears worried, and Changbin has a blank mask, which they all called his _camera-face_. Chan shifts on his chest, chin pressed against Felix’s sternum as he looks up with adoring eyes and a soft smile stretched across even softer lips.

He gulps, attention directing to the viewers with a subtle clear of his throat. “ _Well that’s all for today,_ ” he says, voice raspy from disuse and thickly accented as any sense of common courtesy for their non-Australian fans flies out the window with his will to speak Korean (at least Manager-nim doesn’t seem to mind the sudden inclusion of English). “ _Thanks for tuning in Stay,_ ” with the utter of their fanbase’s name, a switch seemed to flip on within him and Stage-Felix reared his confident head; he flashes a charming smile with the trained precision of a man of the media, hands tightening at the swell of pride in Chan’s dark chocolate orbs, “ _We love and appreciate you very much. All of us: the members and me and staff… We wouldn’t be here without you so thank you. And, remember, you make Stray Kids stay. Sleep well! Goodnight!”_

And with their hands waving goodbye, the camera cuts and Felix sinks into Chan’s hold with a small whimper as Real-Felix takes the reins and tugs with the force of a thousand falling bricks. The wall holding back his tears crumbles and he sobs into his leader’s shoulder, _“I-I’m sorry- so sorry- I didn’t want this! I didn’t want it…”_

Chan frowns, sitting up to coax Felix’s head to rest against the crook of his neck as a sense of protectiveness drifts through the room. “ _This is the real you though; that’s nothing to be ashamed of_ ,” the alpha said firmly, sharing a look with the others for disagreement. There was none.

“ _I’m a freak! Boys aren’t supposed to be omegas!_ ”

“That’s not true”, Seungmin chimed in hesitantly, “I used to have a friend that was an omega. He had to take some hormone suppressants to prevent his heat but other than that, nobody saw a difference. It’s rare, not wrong.”

_“B-But I’ll cause trouble with the media: they’ll think I lied to everyone about being a beta this whole time and it’s not like I can tell them the truth either now! You even said in ‘Fam’ that play-on-words lyric about no one being beta than me. The group will be hit and have to suffer just because I’m- I’m not normal. I-I’ll have to leave or be kicked o-out or-”_

“Felix, look at me,” Chan commanded softly, waiting until the boy’s watery eyes met his before continuing, “There is nothing wrong with you. _We don’t care that you’re an omega_ , honestly. You’re still Felix even if you have a different scent, you’re still our Yongbokkie. _Don’t worry about the media or fans or JYP or anything, okay?_ We’ll take care of it. We’ll figure it out; we always do. We still want you here, with us, in Stray Kids; _I_ still want you here. You deserve to be part of this group no matter your classification and I’m not going to let anyone tell you otherwise. And if somebody wants you gone, they are going to have to go through me first.”

“Me too!” Jisung said, jumping up from his seat with a fiery determination in his eyes.

Minho crossed his arms, “And me.”

Hyunjin gave a sly smile, “Me as well. Nobody will lay a finger on our precious Lixie.”

“I’ll fight someone too!” Jeongin cried enthusiastically, hopping off the couch with a wicked grin.

“I’m here for you, Lix,” Seungmin assured with a comforting smile as Changbin gave his head a light pat. 

His mask was broken, revealing adamant eyes and a fond quirk to his lips, “We all are; vanilla can be the new snickerdoodle for all I care.”

Felix laughed, sniffing as he looked at his pack with an earnest gratefulness. “I love you guys.”

Everybody smiled, collectively joining Chan in the squeeze fest at the center of the couch for a group hug. 

“We love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> So whatcha think? Did I do the dynamics correctly? If I messed something up, please let me know! <3


End file.
